Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Notes from a Suzuki Violin Workshop

This past weekend my girls and I drove back and forth a couple of times between our home and Quincy, IL for a day and a half of classes with artist teachers Gabe Bolkosky and Christie Felsing. We finished with a recital—the first half featuring Gabe, the second half featuring all the kids who participated in the workshop—and returned home full, spent, and with new resolve. I don’t think you could ask for a better couple of days.

As always, I have a million thoughts rattling around in my head. Here are a few I was able to catch:

• Realizing you are bound by music to a bunch of kids you’ve never met is pretty cool
• So is running around like a maniac with them between classes
• Work—careful, detailed, technical work—can be a joy
• The above is especially true when you’re doing that work in a group
• Cultivating technique as a tool for expression = giving a child power and a voice
• Striving for excellence is so not boring
• Teaching is as much a craft as playing violin
• Ditto for parenting
• This is more about lifestyle than it is about extra-curricular activities
• This is more about who we are developing into as people than anything else

"The heart that feels music will feel people." --Shinichi Suzuki, Ability Development from Age Zero

I just clicked through facebook to your latest post and my eye was drawn to the title of this post in your sidebar. "This is more about lifestyle than it is about extra-curricular activities" really resonates for me. I think that is a great way to describe the Suzuki method! I can't wait to quote you to my mother whom I am sure will agreee whole heartedly.